Powderham Castle

Spent a very enjoyable Saturday in what is beginning to develop into actual summer.

Dylan and I went down into Shaldon this morning and had a pleasant couple of hours watching the people and the boats whilst Ann put a fresh coat of varnish on the decking.

She later met me for coffee at The Ness then we went off to Dawlish to meet Colin.  

The three of us went to Powderham Castle for a walk.  Though more a stately home than castle , it is an impressive pile standing in extensive grounds between Dawlish and Exeter by the banks of the River Exe.  The original building was started in 1391 and has been home to the same family ever since, currently the 18th Earl and Duchess of Devon.

There is an impressive food hall and cafe in the grounds where we went for a cup of tea following the walk.  Ann went off to the food hall to buy Homity Pies for tea.

The walk passed a deer park that is part of the grounds (presumably the culled meat ends up in the food hall) and they made a pretty picture though weren't quite in the right place for a decent photo of building and deer, just the one, sigh.

I've added a couple of photos I took today to My Blipfolio (bits & bobs), there's a follow up to my Black Swan photo from 9th April 2012 showing the family following the hatching of the eggs she was sitting on; plus for RozWood1970 there's a seagull shown through the barrel of a shotgun ;)